“Vertikal”, the new studio album from Swedish “art rockers” CULT OF LUNA, will be released in Europe on January 25 via Indie Recordings and in the U.S. on January 29, 2013 through Density Records. In addition to the regular CD, there will be released a limited edition of “Vertikal”, including one bonus track. The vinyl will also be available through Back On Black.

According to a press release, “Vertikal” marks a much-anticipated return for the band after five years spent cultivating the ideas and directing the influences that have helped form a concept for the album. Distilled throughout are themes of machinery, repetition and clear, linear structures honed to the visual imagery of Fritz Lang‘s classic expressionist science fiction film “Metropolis”. The music broods, builds and boils as you may expect from CULT OF LUNA, but never overcomplicates itself or veers from its intentions; it is arguably their finest and most cohesive piece of work to date.

Commented the band: “Before we started writing, we were keen to find a theme that in a very direct way could be shown through the music, and we hope to have achieved this. We developed clear structures — very linear, refusing to over complicate the writing process.

“We realize fans have been waiting for what seems like an age for us to return to the live arena properly, but we were not keen on playing shows before we had the new material ready. There have been changes, and we wanted to come back on our own terms with something completely new. It is very important for us to transpose the idea of a new album into the live setting, to not tread water, and to include the fans in what we’ve been working on; you will be hearing this very soon.”

CULT OF LUNA will return to the live arena for a full European tour, with a new set of dates just announced in April and May in addition to the previously announced period around the album’s release in January and February. There are U.S. dates being planned and the band intend to tour further in late 2013.

CULT OF LUNA released a hardback book/audiobook called “Eviga Riket” on February 23, 2010 via C.O.L Press. According to the band, the book is “a short story covering the life and times of Mr. Holger Nilsson, the full story behind the ‘Eternal Kingdom’ [CULT OF LUNA‘s latest album] theme. The book will be bilingual, written in Swedish and translated into English. The narrated versions of this short story is accompanied by newly written CULT OF LUNA pieces and soundscapes.”

CULT OF LUNA‘s DVD, “Fire Was Born”, was released in April 2009 via Earache Records). Along with an epic live show recorded on July 1, 2008 at Scala in London, England, the disc — which was mixed, edited and designed by the band — features footage of mainman Johannes Persson and Anders Teglund (keyboards) answering questions from fans all around the world and the videos for “The Watchtower”, “Leave Me Here” and “Back To Chapel Town”.